Effect of intravitreal ranibizumab on fibrovascular membranes in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy
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Song Chen and Yue Zhang. Tianjin Eye Hospital, Tianjin Eye Institute, Tianjin Key Lab of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Nankai University Affiliated Eye Hospital, Tianjin 300020, China. chensong9999@126.com; zhangmoon0225@126.com

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Supported by the Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project (No.TJYXZDXK-016A).

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    Abstract:

    AIM: To assess the effects of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) on angiogenesis and glial activity of the fibrovascular membrane (FVM) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). METHODS: Forty-two eyes from 42 patients with PDR requiring vitrectomy were included and divided into two groups: control group (n=16) did not receive IVR, while IVR group (n=26) underwent IVR 5d before vitrectomy. FVM specimens were collected by the same surgeon during the interventions. Histopathological morphology was examined by hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining and cell densities in the FVM was assessed. Microvessels were outlined by immunohistochemical staining of CD31 and microvessel density (MVD) assessed as an index of FVM angiogenesis. Dual-color immunofluorescence staining, and confocal microscopy was used to detect co-localization and relative expression levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) as markers of glial-mesenchymal transition (GMT). The GMT index (GI; ratio of relative GFAP/α-SMA expression) was used to semi-quantify the degree of GMT or glial activity of FVMs. RESULTS: H-E staining showed similar vascularization in both groups, with microvessels and scattered stromal cells in the matrix. Infiltrated cell densities did not differ significantly between the two groups (P>0.05). The MVD of the IVR group (130.62±15.46/mm2) was significantly lower than that of the controls (142.25±19.16/mm2, P<0.05). In both groups, all sections were strongly immunostained for GFAP and α-SMA. The Pearson’s correlation coefficients (PCC) of intensity of automated pixel count of two markers indicated GFAP and α-SMA co-stained well and GMT participated in the remolding of FVMs in PDR. The mean relative GFAP expression in the IVR group was significantly lower, whereas that of α-SMA was significantly higher than in controls (P<0.05). GI in the IVR group (1.10±0.10) was significantly lower than in the controls (1.21±0.12, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: IVR can reduce angiogenesis, glial activity of FVM and promote glial-fibrotic transformation by reducing MVD and promoting GMT but does not decrease the cell density in patients with PDR.

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Ze-Yu Liang, Yi-Peng Wang, Jing Li, et al. Effect of intravitreal ranibizumab on fibrovascular membranes in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Int J Ophthalmol, 2022,15(10):1577-1585

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Publication History
  • Received:May 16,2022
  • Revised:August 12,2022
  • Adopted:
  • Online: September 21,2022
  • Published: